Technical Field
The present invention is related to an apparatus, a computer program, and a method for aiding physicians when determining the position of a trocar port during endoscopic surgical procedures performed by inserting surgical instruments and an endoscope through the trocar port.
Background Art
Recently, minimally invasive surgical procedures are becoming widespread in the medical field, in order to reduce the burden on the bodies of patients. In such a surgical procedure, a small hole called a trocar port is formed in the surface of the body of a patient. Surgical instruments and an endoscope are inserted through the trocar port, and treatment is performed while observing a diseased portion and the surgical instruments with the endoscope. In minimally invasive surgical procedures, the range of view and the movable range of the surgical instruments depend greatly on the position of trocar ports. Therefore, whether the position of a trocar port is set appropriately is an important point related to the success or failure of surgical procedures.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-131020 discloses a technique for determining the position of a trocar port. In this technique, a physician is prompted to specify the position of a trocar port. A surgical procedure simulation is executed using the specified position. In the case that problems, such as a target portion being outside the range of view of an endo scope and surgical instruments not being able to reach the target portion, occur during the simulation, the physician is prompted to specify the position of the trocar port again. Another surgical procedure simulation is executed using the specified position. The position of a trocar port to be utilized for an actual surgical procedure is determined by repeating the above steps.